Stygian swung the staff in his hand, delivering a fierce blow to the monster.The monster, startled by Stygian’s sudden appearance, hesitated for a moment. But it quickly recovered and charged at Stygian, roaring, "You dare to ruin my plans?! You will die too!"But as soon as the monster finished its sentence, it froze in place. It felt an overwhelming force constricting it and preventing it from moving. No matter how much it struggled, it was completely immobilized."Crush!" Stygian's voice rang out.The monster, unable to withstand the powerful attack, was crushed to pieces.Matthias and Laura were dumbfounded, unable to process what had just happened. "Don't worry, the monster is dead. You can get up now," Adrian said as he approached. He had been observing from the shadows, waiting for Stygian to finish before stepping out."Who... Who are you?" Matthias asked."Don’t worry, I'm not a bad person, and I'm certainly not a ghost. You should be able to see that," Adrian replie
But after some thought, Adrian figured that the garrison was not omniscient. They relied on various monitoring devices to detect unusual dark energy fluctuations. This area was the outskirts of Mapleston, so Adrian reckoned that Matthias' village must be beyond the devices' range.Adrian asked, "Where exactly is your village?""We’re from Dragonfield Village," Matthias replied.Adrian knew about Dragonfield Village. It was a neighboring village just outside Mapleston. He considered this for a moment, then quickly instructed Stygian, "Take them to our base. I'm heading to Dragonfield." "Yes, sir," Stygian replied. Then, the few people hurried off in different directions.*"Run! The monsters are coming!"Countless people were screaming and running in terror. Unfortunately, they were mere mortals, powerless against these monsters. In no time, many were caught by the pursuing monsters. The humans struggled with all their might but to no avail. The monsters held an overwhelming a
Adrian quickly held on to the old man and pulled him up, saying, "Sir, there’s no need for that. Slaying monsters is my duty."Adrian then heard sobbing nearby. Turning towards the sound, he saw the little girl he had saved earlier, and her tears tugged at his heart. He approached her, gently patting her head, bending down, and saying, "Why are you crying? You’re safe now. I've already killed those monsters." "But... But my brother and father were taken by those monsters. Can you save them?" the girl asked, and Adrian's heart sank at her words."What happened here?" he asked as he looked up at the surrounding villagers.The elder who had spoken before stepped forward again. "Some of the villagers were taken by those monsters.""To where?" Adrian asked."Sir, are you going to…" The elder was taken aback."Yes, I'm going to rescue them," Adrian confirmed.The elder gasped. "But those monsters are powerful, and there are a lot of them. Going alone would be very dangerous.""Haha
Two figures arrived outside the abandoned mine."The leader sent us to investigate, and it looks like we've come to the right place. The dark energy around this mine is so heavy. Let's head inside," a young man in his twenties said. He prepared to move forward but was quickly stopped by the woman beside him. "Are you crazy? Going in would be walking to our deaths,” she said.The woman had delicate features and was very beautiful. Her long hair was tied up into a simple ponytail, and coupled with her tight-fitting attire, she exuded a sense of competence and grace."Look, there are some people over there. Are those monsters capturing people? Let's hurry and save them!" the young man said."No!" The woman continued to hold him back. She gave the young man a disdainful look and continued, "I know they're capturing those villagers, but if we rush over now, we’d just be throwing our lives away.""Are we just going to watch them get taken away then?" the young man questioned."Are yo
Although the woman had been calm and composed earlier, she now felt slightly disoriented. Similarly, Rean was starting to panic. He asked, "What should we do? Are we really trapped here now?""Don't panic," the woman reassured, trying to maintain her composure. "Our leader said encountering a phenomenon like this isn't terrifying as long as we stay focused. We'll surely find a way out."In reality, it was her first time on a mission as well. She thought that having the Monster Repel would make everything foolproof. However, she had not expected it to be so ineffective, and that they would encounter such a phenomenon. 'What should we do? Are we going to die before we can even accomplish our mission?' the woman thought. In the memorial hall of their faction, there were many plaques commemorating fellow disciples who had sacrificed their lives on missions over the years. She did not want to end up being another name on one of those plaques.Just then, a sudden gust of chilly wind
"What is it?" Adrian asked.“We are monster hunters from the Aetherians, and we're here on a mission to eliminate the monsters. May we join forces with you?” Aubrey asked.“The Aetherians?” Adrian mused. He had heard of this name before. Nathaniel had told him about it. Besides the official garrison army, there were many contract monster hunters. Some were factions, some were families, and others were independent monster hunters, but all of them were managed by the garrison. Nathaniel initially thought Adrian was an unregistered monster hunter.The Aetherians was one such organization. They had about twenty members, with varying levels of strength. Their leader, the strongest among them, was a peak B-level monster hunter. Nathaniel had dealt with them before and had mentioned them to Adrian. It was just that Adrian had not expected to encounter them now.“Your leader is so irresponsible,” Adrian said, “This place is far beyond your capabilities. It’s irresponsible of him to send yo
At this moment, the surrounding mist seemed to thicken even more. Within the fog, shadowy figures began to emerge one after another. As they slowly approached the trio, Aubrey's heart sank.Adrian, however, merely chuckled coldly and said, "Do you really think such a petty trick can trap me? Ridiculous!""What?"Aubrey and Rean were taken aback, clearly not expecting such a confident response from him.Adrian then called out, "Guys! It's time for you to show yourselves!" "Yes, sir!" General Hydro and General Pyro replied."Roger!" Ash also chimed in. Several figures materialized and stood before the trio."Who are these people?"Aubrey and Rean were stunned.Leading the charge were two armored warhorses, one wreathed in flames and the other trailing water. When they moved, they became streaks of blue and red light as they sliced through the mist. For a moment, the vast mine was filled with the wails of countless ghosts. Soon after, the mist dissipated.Adrian, Aubrey, and
Crack! The lock shattered, and the heavy door creaked open slowly."Wow!" Aubrey and Rean were taken aback."Let's go," Adrian said with a smile.With Adrian around, Aubrey and Rean felt slightly more at ease. However, they could not shake off the feeling of walking into a trap.Inside the cavern, the sense of foreboding intensified, and even Adrian's heart skipped a beat. Above them hung countless desiccated corpses wrapped in white cloth, resembling mummies or giant cocoons. Adrian estimated there were hundreds of bodies, densely packed and covering the entire cavern ceiling."What are those?" Aubrey said in horror as she and Rean entered, and her cry seemed to awaken some ancient presence.The bodies above began to tremble. Slightly at first, then more violently, writhing like enormous maggots hanging from the ceiling. It was a grotesque sight, enough to make anyone feel nauseous.Suddenly, some of the corpses broke free of their bindings and lunged toward them at high spee